Observational studies compare outcomes among subjects with and without an exposure of interest, without intervention from study investigators. Observational studies can be designed as a prospective or retrospective cohort study or as a case-control study. In healthcare epidemiology, these observational studies often take advantage of existing healthcare databases, making them more cost-effective than clinical trials and allowing analyses of rare outcomes. This paper addresses the importance of selecting a well-defined study population, highlights key considerations for study design, and offers potential solutions including biostatistical tools that are applicable to observational study designs. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2016;1-6.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
6
20%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences
2
7%
Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medicine
1
3%
Nursing and Health Professions
1
3%
Other
1
3%
Unknown
9
30%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 4. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 05 May 2017.
All research outputs
#11,471,584
of 34,410,315 outputs
Outputs from Infection control and hospital epidemiology (Online)
#3,440
of 6,159 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#122,476
of 344,788 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Infection control and hospital epidemiology (Online)
#408
of 773 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,410,315 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 65th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 6,159 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 14.3. This one is in the 42nd percentile – i.e., 42% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 344,788 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 62% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 773 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 45th percentile – i.e., 45% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
